Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program Launches at Montclair State

Wipro, a leading global IT company, recently awarded a five-year $1.3
million grant to a team of five Montclair State University faculty members to
implement the Wipro Science Education Fellowship (SEF) leadership training
program for K-12 science teachers and on June 11, more than 70 people gathered
on campus for the kick-off celebration. The guests included the first cohort of
20 SEF teacher participants, as well as representatives from participating
school districts, Wipro, the University of Massachusetts-Boston and Montclair
State.

“The evening was very successful and truly a celebration,” says
Collette Killian, College of Science and Mathematics professor and team member.
Killian and fellow team members–Mika Munakata and Jackie Willis of the
College of Science and Mathematics, and Emily Klein and Monica Taylor of the
College of Education and Human Services–will run the program designed to
train science teachers to become leaders within their classrooms.

Wipro is an India-based company with a significant presence in North
America, including New Jersey. “This is the only partnership we have of this
kind in the U.S.,” says Nikki Vasser Glee, senior manager in human resources at
Wipro, who attended the kick-off. “We have never done anything like this in the
U.S.”

More than 60 teachers from high-needs schools in the Clifton,
Montclair, Kearney, Orange and Paramus school districts will participate in the
Wipro SEF program over the next five years. Each teacher will receive a $10,000
stipend for participating in the professional development for two years. “They
will meet with each other once a month and we will meet as a big group once a
month,” says Munakata.

The Wipro SEF program supports emerging teacher leadership by focusing
on reflective practice, inquiry-based pedagogies, classroom research and
leadership activities. These veteran teachers will also be prepared to train
and help their districts retain new teachers. “Ultimately, these teachers will
be in positions to enact positive change within their schools, their districts
and beyond,” says Munakata. “We hope they will form a professional community of
SEF science teachers and form long-lasting professional ties.”

The Montclair State team will collaborate throughout the project’s
duration with partners and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts-Boston
who are running a parallel program. “The UMass team will concurrently be
working with five Boston area school districts,” notes Munakata.

“Wipro is deeply committed to improving school education, especially for
the disadvantaged. Our collaboration with UMass, Boston and MSU is for this
purpose.” says Anurag Behar, chief sustainability officer at Wipro. “We are
happy that we share this purpose with these two wonderful institutions.”

While the June 11 celebration was the first time–other than an informational meeting the Montclair State team met with the
Cohort 1 teachers, their work has only just begun. “We’ll have our first
working meeting on June 18,” says Killian.